| Venue: | Glebe Farm Equestrian Centre | ||
| Discipline: | Dressage | ||
| Test: | Prelim 1 | Judge | Heather Reeves |
| Percentage: | 72.6% | Place: | 1st (Qualified) |
Our first dressage comp of the year; in fact our first dressage comp since July last year!!! Glebe Farm is about 45 minutes away from home, and a fairly straightforward run. Chris came to support today as I was trialling the towing capabilities of the new Discovery Sport – it did a good job!
Finn was pretty wired again today, the wind was up – not nearly as bad as yesterday – but still getting under her tail and making her feel rather fresh. She settled well and did some lovely supple work in the working in arena; then decided it was all too exciting when it came time to do our test. She tensed up and started to hurry, so I tried to keep in mind Claire’s advice from last week and kept everything small – I did some fairly strong half halts and some mini serpentines before the bell went to start, and she did start to listen and soften again.
I was a bit disappointed with the test, she didn’t feel half as good as she did working in – but it must have looked better than it felt – we won on 72.6%. The Judge’s comments were: “Lovely horse and rider combination, lots to like. Accurately ridden test. Three rhythmical gaits showing suppleness. Trot sometimes getting hurried, which reflects in your marks today. Well ridden!”
I was especially pleased with the comment about suppleness – which got us an 8 in the collectives – something we have been working on. I think the EquiAmi is really helping with suppleness and balance. I now just need to maintain the feeling I get working in, through to the actual test – then I’ll be really happy. Chris even mucked out the trailer so things are looking up! Our result today means that we’ve qualified for the first round of Trailblazers 2015. A good day’s work!
Qualification Card – Trailblazers Dressage Champs 2015